Base of Operations
by SSA Javier Grey P.I
Summary: Now Kurama has a reason to never bring his friends over. He just never thought it would be his sweet, kind mother that is.


**Author's Ramble: Hellerkeys madlang tao! Did you guys understand that? Hahaha! Well, it's 10 pm and I couldn't get this out of my head. So for your entertainment! Review madla! And please don't kill me if you think it's mule doody! I'm just a bored highschooler!**

**Summary: Now Kurama has a reason to never bring his friends over. He just never thought it would be his sweet, kind mother that is.**

**Disclaimer: On my profile madla.  
**

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It was quite a sight to behold.

Two of the teens, one cladded in green, raven hair slicked back while the other dressed in blue and carrot-topped jumped into a middle-of-the-street brawl after a heated debate, if screaming and insults are what you would call a debate, about something regarding a girl named Yukina and being "kept out of the loopty loop".

An extremely cute little girl in an old-fashioned-yet-somehow-adorable red tunic stood beside a young man just about her height in a cloak as dark as a starless night. The young girl's large hazel eyes rolled skyward at the sight while the young man's scarlet ones danced a ballet of amusement. Genkai-shihan needed to fit in too.

And a blue-haired teen stood at the sides, futile attempts at placating the fight thwarted by her futile attempts to placate the oak-brown haired teen next to her, baby blue pacifier not at all a hindrance for his yelling as he screamed at the two tumbling imbeciles.

Yet the most attention-grabbing scene for the spectators composed of well-meaning neighbors wasn't any of the above but the crimson-locked young man way beyond the background.

Even as a child, Minamino Shuiichi was the sort of person who could never be a wallflower even for his life. It wasn't because of an extreme need of attention nor a sense of arrogance and/or pride but he was just, simply _noticeable_.

His head of red hair, Rapunzel-long or boyish short was one eye-catching quality of his. Warmth in its color and softness in every strand, its vibrance and vitality was something you couldn't simply ignore, a color that can't be found in your corner drugstore or high-end salon but you might be able to spot at the ends of a rainbow or the vermillion of the setting sun. The only color that could ever compare or contrast with the vibrance of his hair were his eyes.

Deep, enigmatic and green, the warmth of his hair can only be rivaled by the cool in his eyes. Ever speaking of a deep and unknown maturity, his eyes were not windows to his soul but a deceptive void into it, an enigmatic portal that just draws you deeper and deeper and deeper, never finding more yet keeps you seeking more.

And of course that beautiful mind of his. Uncomprehensible to even his own mother, always thinking, always learning, never stopping. A graceful ballet must be twirling in that theater of a mind of his, because simple neurochemical charges seem inadequate to explain the complexity known as Minamino Shuiichi's mind.

Yet right now, at the corner into the street of the Minamino household, Shuiichi wasn't a sight because of the forementioned nor of another hundred things that makes him a singularity. Sixteen-year old Minamino Shuiichi seemed no different than on any other day, dressed in his Meiou High uniform. And other than sweatdropping comically, delicate pink lips twitching in and out of a nervous smile, he seemed like the quiet, reserved Shuiichi they had all known for a little over fifteen years.

But the fact he wasn't alone today, nor was his adorable nose rubbing against the pages of a textbook...

...and the fact that this rambunctious bunch was so far from the intellectual, brooding bunch you would expect to be with him.

The fight stopped somewhere between their thoughts.

A smiling Shuiichi had steady hands on the shoulders of the brawling teens.

The neighbors closed their doors as the teens made their way to the Minamino household.

One thing was on their minds.

_Shiori-chan is going to have quite a day..._

They didn't realize how wrong they were going to be.

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"I still don't understand this foolishness. Surely we aren't going to waste time and efforts on such a low class of opponents." Hiei complained.

"This isn't a mockery of your fighting prowess Hiei. These demons, though low class they are, are in posession of very important items. Items that would mean the the very safety of the Spirit World, and must be retrieved with care and caution. Our usual head-on tactics won't work. We have to fight smart this time." Koenma explained with a rare patience. Somewhere along the way he learned that the only way to get through to the fire apparition was keeping calm and cool. A strategy tried and tested by Kurama himself.

It seems that a bunch of D-Class demons have somehow, someway made their way into the Spirit World and have stolen priceless relics and documents of high value, kept with such secrecy that Koenma cannot disclose to the group. With such a delicate situation and with the fate of the Spirit World in the balance, the team needed a close-to-no-fail plan. And Kurama was just the person to help.

But that wasn't the reason their base of operations was to be the Minamino household.

During the raid of the Spirit World, a large amount of damage was done to Koenma's office. The demons were by no means professionals, using explosives and other _crash-bang-pow_ means of entering the office, when a thief's best ally is quiet and the dark, blending into the shadows.

The next best place would've been Yuusuke's but unfortunately his mother hasn't picked the best time to go slurry, dizzy, insanely drunk, dancing around and pole-dancing with the sofa. It would've bearable enough if she wasn't prancing around in her swimsuit.

And as pretty as Yuusuke's mom is, Mom + skimpy swimsuit + vodka is _never_ a good combination.

Kuwabara's would've been okay but it was Shizuru's time of the month. The gang high-tailed it out of there after hearing her screams ten blocks away.

So the only place left was Kurama's.

While discussing battle strategies and chopping demon heads off, Kurama opened the gate, the metal squealing softly.

"And please remember, I'm Shuiichi here." He whispered as a final reminder, before opening the door.

"_Tadaima 'Kaa-san._" Shuiichi called out, pulling his shoes off. The team followed in suit.

And that's when they heard the shattering of glass.

Kurama looked up. _It wasn't in the kitchen... Upstairs..._

He rushed up to see his mother in the middle of his room, kneeling on the rugged floor. A shattered glass next to her.

Before he ask her what was wrong, she spoke, her voice quivering and cold.

"How long have you been lying to me?" Her voice echoed in his ears, shattering his heart as surely as the broken cup on the floor.

"How _long_?"

_She-She knows... How?_

He couldn't speak, he couldn't breath. The team was running up the stairs and he couldn't find the strength to look at them.

"_Why_?" Sobs racked her frail form. Shiori hunched closer to the ground.

"Mother-"

"NO! I won't fall for it anymore! I am _not_ going to be your fool anymore!" Shiori stood, hazel eyes covered by her stubborn locks.

"When were you going to tell me? How long were you going to keep me in the dark? Are you even who you say you are, has any of this been true? Or has all of this-" She gestured toward him as she strode closer to him, anger in every letter.

Kurama took step after step after step backward, until his back hit the veranda.

The team stood still as statues. Not moving, not breathing. Even Hiei seemed paralyzed.

_Mother... I'm so sorry..._

"-been part of your facade?" She stopped a foot from him, eyes trained on him.

"I would've understood you know? You didn't have to lie. I would've still loved you. Even if you are..." Her voice went weak, slow. She raised her hand towards his cheek in a tender, loving manner.

"...gay."

"E-Eh?" Kurama muttered, unable to comprehend. The group, holding their breaths, had the same expression of confusion and incomprehension.

Shiori moved her hand from Kurama's face, made a fist an inch from her face, eyes closed and trained on the ground, she breathed. "End scene. So what do you think Shuiichi dear?" Shiori smiled, every bit his sweet, kind, loving mother.

_That_ sent Shuiichi off the veranda.

But Yuusuke steadied him after he recovered from the group face plant.

"Oh Yuusuke-kun!" Shiori turned towards the boy, then to her confused spectators. "I didn't know you were bringing friends over sweetheart!"

"Mother..." Kurama's usually calm demeanor crumpled in front of them. Eyes wide, hair messy, a thin film of sweat on his brow and his heart thumping like a convict to be put to death, he was every bit the bewildered son he deserved to be after such a display.

"Did I scare you honey? _Gomen Nasai_." She placed a hand on Kurama's cheek once again. "I was just practicing for a play."

"A p-play?"

"Yes dear. Your mom got the lead part in our neighborhood stageplay." She moved towards his room, plucking a script from the floor.

"See? _"A Single Word"_. It's a story about how a mother adjusts to the life of her homosexual child. Nami-chan down the street is going to play my daughter here." She smiled, showing the group that had surrounded Kurama in front of the open door the script. "It's going to be a story to raise awareness and tolerance for our third-sex brothers and sisters. Roku-chan wrote it for his drama class, isn't that nice?" Shiori continued as she picked up the pieces of broken glass, which turned out to be sugar glass for theater productions.

Coming out of the room, she smiled once again. "I didn't mean to startle you honey. And certainly not off the second floor! I just thought that if I was to be convincing on stage, a confused and hurt mother, I had to play the part good. And I thought the best way to practice was to pull one over you. '_If I can convince Shuichi then I'm sure I can convince anybody' _I thought. And I did." She giggled, pride and confidence in every word.

"What did you kids think?" Shiori locked eyes with the group of teens. Each one gave her a nervous thumbs-up or smile of approval.

"Well then! How about a snack? You kids must be hungry. Make yourselves at home!" Shiori gave Kurama a quick peck on his cheek before she called it out from the stairs.

A shaky Kurama looked up to his friends eyes. They were all a bit shaky as well.

"Why don't we go to my place instead?" Kuwabara's voice quivered.

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**Author's Ramble: Please don't kill me! So what do you think? I wanted it to be funny and cute but I guess a bit of drama got sloshed in. Did a bit of fangirling up there, did you notice? ****Please review guys!**


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